Dr. Katja Wehrle

Assistant Professor

Katja.Wehrle

Phone +49 (0)641 / 99 - 26225

Fax +49 (0) 641 / 99 - 26229

Room: F 404 (F tract, 4th floor)

Academic Career Path

Research Interests

• Refugees' vocational behavior and labor market integration
• Career transitions, career development, and coping with change
• Identity at work
• Healing and growth-fostering potential of work among disadvantaged populations
• Adversarial growth at work
• Positive psychological phenomena and processes at work
• Social support

Teaching

• Work and Organizational Psychology (B.Sc.)
• Positive Organizational Scholarship (M.Sc.)
• Systemic Coaching und Change Management(M.Sc.)
• Agile Management (M.Sc.)
• Emergency Communication (M.Sc.)

Awards

Publications

Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals

• Wehrle, K., Kira, M., Klehe, U. C., & Hertel, G. (2024). Scorched earth: Employers’ breached trust in refugees’ labor market integration. Business & Society, 63(1), 60-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503231202022

• Wehrle, K., Kira, M., & Klehe, U.-C. (2019). Putting career construction into context: Career adaptability among refugees. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 111, 107-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.08.007

• Wehrle, K., Klehe, U.-C., Kira, M., & Zikic. J. (2018). Can I come as I am? Refugees’ vocational identity threats, coping, and growth. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 105, 83-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.10.010

Preprints

• Hellmann, J. H., Schlechter, P., Knausenberger, J., Wehrle, K., Schiefer, D., Arian, M., … Echterhoff, G. (2022, April 21). Social media use by refugees residing in Germany: Prevalence and a potential relationship with migration forcedness. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/wjhav

 Invited Book Chapter

• Wehrle, K., & Fasbender, U. (2019). Self-concept. In V. Zeigler-Hill & T. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences (pp. 1-5). Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_2001-1

 Editorial Activities

• Associate Editor for the section Work and Organizational Psychology of Applied Psychology: An International Review (International Association of Applied Psychology)
• Guest Editor of the Special Issue "Effective strategies for humanitarian migrants’ employment, inclusion and integration" im Journal of International Management (Elsevier). Available under https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-international-management/call-for-papers/effective-strategies-for-humanitarian-migrants
• Editorial Board Member des Journal of Vocational Behavior (Elsevier)
• Editorial Board Member des Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (The British Psychological Society)

Selection of Presentations and Organized Symposia at National Conferences

• Hofer & K. Wehrle (Chairs, 2023). (Forced) migration – Refugees, migrants, expats, and international mobility: How career barriers and resources shape (forced) migrants’ career development. Symposium accepted at the 13th Congress of the Section Work-, Organizational- and Business Psychology of the German Psychological Society, Kassel, Germany, September 12-15.
• Wehrle, K., Kira, M., & Klehe, U.-C. (2023). “It’s exhausting and requires strength at the same time”: Identity threats, threat emotions, and identity work among workers suffering from Post-COVID. In A. Hofer & K. Wehrle, How careers develop and transitions unfold: Examining the role of the worker, context, and time from a career perspective. Symposium accepted at the 13th Congress of the Section Work-, Organizational- and Business Psychology of the German Psychological Society, Kassel, Germany, September 12-15.
• Wehrle, K., Kira, M., & Klehe, U.-C. (2022). Professional Identity Development Among Medical Residents: The Influence of an Established Professional Identity in an Intra-Institutional Work Role Transition. In K. Wehrle & A. Hofer (Chairs), Tales of Change: Towards a Broader Understanding of Career and Work Role Transitions in the New World of Work. Symposium at the 52^nd Conference of the German Psychological Society, Hildesheim, Germany, September 10-15.
• Wehrle, K., Klehe, U.-C., & Kira, M. (2021). Fostering Refugees’ Labor Market Integration: The Interplaying Roles of Businesses and Host Country Agencies. In K. Wehrle & U.-C. Klehe (Chairs), Migrants’ Long Road Towards Occupational Integration. Symposium at the 12^th Congress for Work, Organizational, and Economic Psychology and Human Factors, September 22-24.

• Schwarz, L. M., Klehe, U.-C., Wehrle, K., & Fasbender, U. (2021). That certain something – A look at the factors that underlie the relationship between job insecurity and stress. In E. Selenko & Klug, K. (Chairs), Precarious Employment: New Perspectives on Job Insecurity and Economic Stressors. Symposium at the 12^th Congress for Work, Organizational, and Economic Psychology and Human Factors, September 22-24.

Selection of Presentations and Organized Symposia at International Conferences

• Wehrle, K., Kira, M., & Klehe, U.-C. (2024). Dynamics between established and emerging professional identity in an intra-institutional transition. In M. Kira & K. Wehrle (Chairs), Noninstitutionalized work-role transitions: Antecedents, processes, and outcomes. Symposium accepted as a showcase symposium at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Chicago, IL, USA, August 9-13.

• Wehrle, K., Kira, M., & Klehe, U.-C. (2024). “It’s exhausting and requires strength at the same time”: Identity threats, threat emotions, and identity work among workers suffering from Post-COVID. In A. Hofer & K. Wehrle (Chairs), Temporal dynamics of career constructs: Longitudinal insights into work values, shocks, threats, and coping. Symposium accepted at the Careers Division Community Conference 2024, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April 18.

• Klehe, U.-C., & Wehrle, K. (2023). Safe haven? – Refugees' challenges and threats in the receiving country's labor market, their coping, and avenues towards adversarial growth and meaningfulness. Invited Issued Speaker at the 21st Congress of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, Katowice, Poland, May 24-27.
• Klehe, U.-C., & Wehrle, K. (2020). Migrants' career related self-management on their road towards better and meaningful work. In IAAP Webinar 16, Supporting people from migrant and refugee backgrounds to access education and work to enhance their integration and resettlement. Online presentation at the International Association of Applied Psychology Division, August 17, 2020.
• Wehrle, K. (2019). Identity Threat, Coping, and Growth Among Refugees and the Role of Career Adaptability and Adaptive Responses in Refugees’ Career Management. Keynote speaker p.p.* at the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology's Refugees & Work Event, Glasgow, Scotland, January 21.
• Wehrle, K., Klehe, U.-C., & Kira, M. (2018). Career Construction During Involuntary Career Transitions Among Refugees. Presentation at the Adderley Positive Research Incubator of the Center for Positive Organizations, University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, Ann Arbor, USA, January 11.

• Wehrle, K., Klehe, U.-C., Kira, M., & Zikic, J. (2017). Can I Come as I Am? Identity Threats, Coping, and Growth Among Refugees. In M. Latzke, & K. Pernkopf (Chairs), Refugees in Europe: Careers and Labor Market Integration. Symposium at the 77^th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Atlanta, USA, August 4-8.

• Wehrle, K., Klehe, U.-C., Kira, M., & Zikic, J. (2017). Can I Come as I Am? Identity Threats, Coping, and Growth Among Refugees on Their Path to Integration Into Their Host Country’s Work and Society. Presentation at the 33^rd EGOS Colloquium in Copenhagen, July 6-8.

Invited International Workshops

• Wehrle, K. (2023). Qualitative research and interviewing: Conducting research via a qualitative interview design. Invited workshop at the 21st Congress of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, Katowice, Poland, May 24.
• Wehrle, K. (2023). Qualitative data analysis and writing it up: How to establish rigor in qualitative research. Invited Workshop at the 21st Congress of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, Katowice, Poland, May 24.

Selection of International Workshops 

• Sarnecki, A., Wehrle, K., Backmann, J., Cojuharenco, I., de Jong, B., Fang He, V., Gerpott, F., Kauppila, O.-P., Patient, D., & Richter, A. (2023). Finding a job in Europe. Professional Development Workshop accepted at the 82th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston, MA, USA, August 4-8.

• Voloshyna, V., Wehrle, K., Paunova, M., Newman, A., Zikic, J., Dunwoodie, K., Morillas, M., Ortlieb, R., Reiche, S., Puffer, S., & Fitzsimmons, S. (2022). Inclusive and Reflexive Research with International Migrants. Professional Development Workshop at the 82^nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Seattle, USA, August 5-9.

• Wehrle, K., Newman, A., Leicht-Deobald, U., Froidevaux, A., Greer, L., Jones, D., & Schouten, M. (2020). Can We Do It, Yes We Can: Strategies for Non-US Scholars to Succeed in the US Jobs Market. Professional Development Workshop at the 80^th Virtual Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, August 7-11.
• Wehrle, K., Paunova, M., Alkhaled, S., Rockstuhl, T., Stahl, G., van Dijk, H., Van Laer, K., Zikic, J., & Zilinskaite, M. (2018). A Multi-Divisional Perspective on What's Next in International Migration and Displacement Research. Professional Development Workshop at the 78^th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Chicago, USA, August 10-14.

Committee Work

• EAWOP Impact Incubator refugee and migrant strand leader, European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (Europe policymaking | Eawop Impact Incubator)
• Head of Research Section Organizational Behavior & Human Resource Management of the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
• Member of the Global Committee of the Academy of Management (AoM) Organizational Behavior Division

Memberships

• Research team member of the Deakin University Centre for Refugee Employment, Advocacy, Training and Education (CREATE), Burwood, Australia.

• Migration, Business & Society Network, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria.

• Academy of Management (AoM)
  - International Committee of the Organizational Behavior Division
• European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP)
• German Psychological Society

Further Qualifications

• Certified Systemic Coach und Change Manager, INeKO - Institut an der Universität Köln
• Certified Basic Agile Master, INeKO - Institut an der Universität Köln

Working Experience